Patrol

Phoenix Cop Recovering from Shooting

January 7, 2013

A Phoenix Police officer remains in stable condition, after he was shot Sunday night in a gunfight with a bicycle rider.

Officer Peter Bennett, 36, suffered life-threatening injuries after he was shot three times in the head, abdomen, and arm. Three other rounds struck his ballistic vest. Officer Bennett was shot while patrolling a central-north Phoenix neighborhood.

The officer had approached the 28-year-old suspect who was wearing dark clothes and a backpack. The suspect ignored the officer's commands, removed the backpack, and then fled. The officer was shot during a foot pursuit, reports KTVK.

Officer Bennett returned fire, hitting the suspect twice. Police later found the man in a shed. He will be arrested following medical treatment, reports the Arizona Republic.

A former police officer—now an elected official with the Missouri House of Representatives—wants to force any city with a population of 5,000 or fewer inhabitants, with an area of less than two square miles, to disband its police department and contract for law enforcement services with either the county police department or a larger neighboring city.